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HomeMy Public PortalAboutA1989-09-06 HOUSING ADVISORY BOARD � • • `�` `.�- ,�. --�. A G E N D A CITY OF LYNWOOD HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING � ,�Q.(.,c.�� (n��J #] WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1989 I R E C EIV E D I 7:00 P.M. CITYOFLYNWOOD CITY CLERKS OFFICE LYNWOOD CITY HALL, 11330 BULLIS.ROAD AU G 3 01989 � AM PM 7�8i9il0illi12i1i2�3i4i5 CLAUDE LAW ��� �� �e��-�� CHAIRPERSON ?'�i �._ ,D,! �` s� /�r�C.ii - T�`" -- � ._ e ^, PATRICIA CARR TRINA REEVES VICE CHAIRPERSON MEMBER CYNTHIA GREEN-GETER , MARGARET ARAUJO MEMBER MEMBER NATHANIEL DAVIS ° MEMBER CITY STAFF I � DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY PROGRAM STAFF VICENTE L. MAS , CLARENCE WILLIAMS, HCDA MANAGER OPENING CEREMONIES: A. CALL TO ORDER B. FLAG SALUTE , C. ROLL CALL , D.. CERTIFICATION OF AGENDA POSTING BY CITY CLERK � E. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - JULY 12, 1989 F. PUBLIC ORALS: (ITEMS ON AGENDA ONLY) I I ; _ _ _ _. � _.... �. . �. __ ___.. . . . ,. , � � _._ � HCDA AGENDA , j PAGE #2 ;: ; };�'' G. NEW BUSINESS � 1. ROLE OF THE H�DA BOARD 2. COMMUNITY LEGAL 5ERVTCE� Comments: Several Board members have expressed their disappoint�- ment at the lack of funding for Community Legal Services for the current fiscaT year ar:d have requested to have this manner agendizect for discussion. 3. PROJECT IMPACT „ Comments: , one Board member has expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the programs and sevices provided. by Project Impact and have reques'ted Eo have tHis rriaEter agendized for discussion.' : �: 4. PROJECT ACT/SO Comments: Several Board members have expressed their concerns' • about the project sponsor's complianoe.with CDHG Program: I , Guidelines concerning non and have requested to have�triis matter agendized for discussion. � 5. PRESS RELEASE5 FOR THE HG`DA SOARD' I I Comments:` � „ Board members 'have expressed tne desire to have the � community better info'rmed .about the HCDA Program I activities and have requested that the matter be agendized for discussion. ! 6. REQUEST FC3R W012KSfIUP "WT'I'H CITY ' COUNC7L ' Comments: Board members have expressed their desire to hold a �� joint meeting with the Cfty Council in order Eo improve communication between Ehe two bodies. �o this end 'the � Boar¢ has requested' that this matter be' agendized for discussion. 7• INVITATION ' TO LOCAL NEWPAPEI2S "TO A'� ' H. STAFF ORAL$ � I. BOARD ORALS I J. ADJOURNMENT I Adjournment to regular meeting of October 4, igg9, at 7:00 I p.m. in the Council Chambers " of City Hall, 11330 Bullis Road, Lynwood, Califbrnia. �I � . � � �� � MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING HOUSING AND COMMUNZTY DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD JULY 12, 1989 I. A. Call to Order � A regular meeting of the Housing and Community Development Advisory Board was called to order by Chairperson Margaret Araujo, June 7, 1989, at 7:14 p.m., in the Council Chambers of Lynwood City Hall, 11330 Bullis Road, Lynwood, California. H. Flag Salute All present HCDA Board members participated in the pledge of allegiance. C. Roll Call Present: Claude Law Patricia Carr Trina Reeves Cynthia Green-Geter Margaret Araujo Absent: John Haley Nathaniel Davis (excused) Also Present: Vicente L. Mas, Community Development Director Clarence Williams, Acting HCDA Manager D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The HCDA Board reviewed the Minutes of June 7th, 1989. Claude Law moved, Patricia Carr seconded that the Minutes be i approved, with corrections. Approval was unanimous. E. PUBLIC ORALS: None. F. NEW BUSINESS Election of Officers Cynthia Green-Geter nominated Patricia Carr for HCDA Chairperson, Patricia Carr declined and nominated Claude Law, Cynthia Green-Geter seconded the nomination. The nomtnation for Claude Law as Chairperson was approved. The next nomination was for Vice Chairperson�. Cynthia Green- Geter nominated Patricia Carr and Margaret Araujo moved that nominations be closed. Patricia Carr was approved as Vice�� Chairperson unanimonsly. H. STAFF ORALS - Vicente L. Mas, Community Development Director, congratnlated new Chairpersons on their appointments. Mr. Mas informed the Board that Arthur Waller is no longer employed by the City, that Mr. Waller has accepted employment with the City ' of Inglewood and that Clarence Williams would be acting in the'position of HCDA Manager. Mr. Mas further explained that the position of HCDA Manager will be openinq for in-house recruitment, however, if there are not enough qualified applicants in-house, the position will be advertised for open recruitment. �. � � ;� �;; July 12, 1989 HCDA Minutes Page #2 Mr. Mas also mentioned that those reordering business cards will be receiving them as soon as possible and that the HCDA Board will be receiving name plates. Mr. Mas informed that Board that Trina� Reeves had been reappointed to the Board at the last Council meeting. Mr. Mas said that he wanted to discuss the comments and concerns of some of the Board members regarding the role of a Housing and . Community Development Advisory Board. Claude Law said that dealing with the concerns of this particular body and relaying the concerns to the Council, there seems to be some kind of problems and the Board wants to resolve them. Cynthia Green-Geter says that it appears from her position during the time she has been a HCDA Board member that the Board's role is plain and simple advisory, but sometimes decissions are made without the advice of the Board and it appears as though the Board is fulfilling the requirements of the Federal Government's guidelines, and because that is the ' case, it reminds her of the advisory board to the school district, where people sit there monthly, year in and year out and they certainly have some valid concerns and they communicate those concerns and they are just heard and not acted upon. Mrs. Green-Geter, further stated that she was not saying that this is always the case of the HCDA Board, but however, it has been her observation that it appears that this Board is filling a space which is mandated by the Federal Government and therefore in order to meet those regulations that is the basis of the Board. Mr. Mas informed the Board that was a requirement until 1985, but from 1985 until present the City, like all Grantees, have i been given the choice of having an Advisory Board or not, as long as the obligations of public notices and public � participation are met. The City Council choose to retain this mechanism, but at this point in time it is not mandated, it is the will of the City Council. Mrs. Green-Geter said that another observation that she has made is that in the last three Council Meetings, there were budget hearings and there were people present from the community, and one person came forth to lobby for a Aid/Hypertension Program and to have that particular program funded but apparentl.y there had been a oversight or it had been overlooked or just not included in the budget overall initially and that the City Council had voted eariler to fund this program for $5,000, and ' in the interim, after City Council had voted to approve the budget, one of the Council members stated that they had a problem with the person bringing that particular issue up at that particular time and the way that it passed. Another . Council member brought out the fact, that he questioned the Fire � Fighter Trainee Program and wanted to evaluate whether or not they could fund only one of the firefighter trainees. Mrs. Green-Geter further stated that it came up that there was approximatelty $18,000 left in Block Grant funds and right there � was another reflection, in her opinion that the Board is not necessary for the decisions that are being made, based on the act that if in fact this individual who wanted and got her program funded for Aids and Hypertension. The validity of the program is not the issue, the issue is the process and procedures and the fact that this decision conld be made in a City Council meeting without any referenece to the fact that a Board even existed. Mrs. Green-Geter stated that it was quite interesting to her. , t � ;. � � � � ,� �; HCDA Minutes HCDA Minutes Page #3 . Margaret Araujo said that if she is not mistaken, the Board was given some infornration aboat two programs, two separate RFP's for an Aids/Hypertension Program, which was submitted for review and to give a recommendation. Mrs. Araujo asked which one of those programs was funded at that Council meeting. Clarence Williams said that what happened after the two proposals were reviewed was that because of the determination made by HUD regarding the Graffiti Program•, the City no longer had funds available for Public Servic� Projects. Mr. Williams further informed the Board that staff will be submitting the Aids/Hypertension information to the City Council in a objective and unbias way and it will be left up to City Council to make a final funding decision. Margaret Araujo said that Council has already made its selection. Clarence Williams said that he was not aware that someone has been selected. His interpertation was that monies had been allocated and a servtce provider had not been formally selected. Mrs. Green-Geter said that the proceedings at the Council meetinq was the.most recent example she could cite which is just a reflection of the occurence of this type of thing and they may vary in the uniquness of the situation and she does not get the impresston that in the consciencesrsess of the Ctty Council, is the thinking that this Board is insignificant and we don`t give , a hoot about what�they say. The point is that the position and � the overall psycographtcs of this Hoard reflects the attitude that they are the�e. Mr. Mas said that one of the things that the Board should keep in mind is that the City Council members are subject to the pressures of their constituents and somettmes they have to act in a very immediate kind of situation. Claude Law said that the Board has Federal guidelines that are supposed to be put into action dealing with their funds. Now when he reads in the newpapers that HUD Advisory Board of the City of Lynwood, approved this particular money, he went to City Hall to confirm it. To him, the.Board did not made any recommendations of that nature and he is concerned about this. When the Board sets up,a guideline to use proposals that are submftted to the Board and ,time is spent as citizens to go through a11 information in order to carryout the Board's charge, and nothing is done, it's like when.,the Board indicated there were certain community projects they were concerned about and if you look at the Minutes of the last �eeting, it states that the Board was concerned about these community projects. The Board is also concerned about what is the avenue of communicatfon to the City Council from this particular body to deal with solving these problems, because some of the objections of this body have been constructive and very valuable for the City of Lynwood. Mr. Law stated that in dealing with all that is going on, it makes him want to call Conqressman Dymally and.say that we are out of compliance and sometimes he wishes he did not know the ' steps, but now first the Hoard should meet wih the Council and see if they can resplve this. Sure we are a Advisory Board and we know what the Iaw says and the guidelines dealin wtth HUD �' money and on this parti��lar body, you have some cttizens that don't mind researching and he happens to be one of them and he will be contacting Lonnte, Dymally's Aide, for a clartfication % on some things. � mr. Law fur her stated, that he did not � appreciate reading in the new�aper that the Board approved something.that they did not. Mrs, areen-Geter asked if that was the $5,000. Mr. Law said yes. Mr. Law said he read the information in the Journal. Mrs. Green-Geter asked if the paper , said that the Board had approved the money. Mr.,Law said that the paper said that HUD had approved it and they are a HUD committee. �. � � � '�. HCDA Minu�es ,July 12, 1989` Page �4 Mrs. Green-Get�r �said thst �the probTem wifY�. tfiat is �hat at the Council meetirig Efiat evenSng 1t was not �definite that tk:ose funds would come from this budget; what was said is that CDBG had approximately $i8,000." Mr. Mas said� that "staff vias instructed to researcFi the matter, come back with recommendations, :.dentify the source bf funds arid recomiiien� - a source. It 'ust ha � ppened'that there were CDE+G funds availabfe: Mr. Law said he met with the Actirig Assistarit Manager �and he made the clariflcation that tHe Board Had giveri the money. Mrs. Green-Geter said fkiat maybe wfiat they are Iooking at is a communication problem with the staff,� becuase if in fact that was a decision being made; a special meetirig could have been called to discuss the issue. Margaret Araujo said that sPie is still awaiting information on t e NAACP Act So Program. Vicente Mas said Ehdt in relatiori `o that, some procedtires that have to do with the administratit�e policy that have ben established; the most eftidient manner fnr the Board to get ariy response is to take action, as individuals: Thy can ask staff on any specifi:c issues that is within related jurisdiction to do research and "come back with information on individil basis as long as it is something reasonable and that might take tivo or three hours or whatever, depending on the amount of support needed�. It may require an action by the full Board because staff has to justify it's time to account for tht. Claude Law said that there was a action my the full Soard. Hefurther stated tkiat the Board's cercern about Project Impact and Act/So was an action by the full body, but what the Board is finding out is wkien they begiri to ask the question, "are we rubber stampers". Because through some of the Commissioners in Sacramento, he has gotton information, he is just waiting to see what will come from staff. Cynthia Green-Geter . said that maybe instead of asking if the Board is just rubber stampers, maybe�a statement should be made that the Board refuses to be rubber stampers. The Soard will not be rubber stampers and it seems to be a perpetration on the Board at large. Mr. Mas said that there is a California Public Meeting Law, known as the Ralph Hrown Act, that any appointed or elected body has to follow. It means that the Board cannot take any subject for debate of deliberation and reach a consensus unless those isssues have been duly posted in the Agenda. Claude Law agreed with Mr. Mas arid said tYiat when staff starts pulling technicalities�on the Board, then tkie Board can start pulling the on staff and he can gibe iip this chair on the Haard� and come out as a public citizen deali:rig with public orals," Mr. Law said "You see wkien you start these ttiings, I can go back to my training, you see I was trained by Kenneth Hahn". Mr. Law . said that he knows wtiat steps are tnvolved, lie knbws how to qive " up the chairmanship and.gou out there arid press, but what he is sayinq is that when the Board asks fbr information, when there is a concern, and see this is federal money tiiey are iiealing with, there was a cercern of racial dlscrimination in one action and the Board wante3 inforniation and there was also concern regarding the citizens being served, the Soard is concerned about�that," Mr: Law mentioned that the Board �also wanted �Community Legal 8ervi:ces and the Board' wanted more information on that for the citizens. Mr. Law said that the Board agreed to serve so that they can help the City of Lynwood in a advisory capacity and that they are all involved iri many things but what bekiooves tliem a great deal is when they begin to really get involvect iri something and are blocked, " that means that he will have"'to call 5enator"Cranstori a'nd "inquire" about�' I . . � � :3CJA Minutes `" �� July.12, 1989 Page #5 things or he may have to call Hud, and he doesn't want to do that but you see he knows that these are federal funds and we advise Hud and see i he can come up with some more federal funds to service the `young people. Three of the Board members have already met with Senator Cranston pertaining . to what can be done for the City and securing funds and they don't just deal with the elected body there in the`City, they deaT with Congressman Dimally, they met with Senator Cranston and he has the telephone number of Mr. Speakers private secretary, pertaining to state law, .state procedures and have contacted others to obtain information pertaining to the City, but the Board does not wish to fight in this particular matter, they want this information so that they can move forward and they want the body to grow. Trina Reeves asked how its made official when the Board is asked to advise that funds be allocated to a certain program, how is it made official. �oes the Board meet with Council and is it 3ocumented? How can 'it be printed in the newspaper that the . Board, adyised something and.they know nothing about it7 How 'is it made offical7 Is that put in writing? Mr. Mas said ttiat in that particular case, he has no knowledge'of_ anyone in the Community Development Department providing information to anyone concerning this. If that is a fact, as the chairman indicates, is in the papers,, he has no idea why. Cynthia Green-Geter suggested that a retraction be made. Mr. Mas said �hat fortunately there is a member of the Planning Commission present, Mr. Haynes, and that there has beeri a change in the reporters in the Journal, there was a incident about a month ago concerning the way that some action concerning the City Council in relation to the Ctty and the PZanning Commission took place and the way that it was worded; t�e report, made the Planning Commissi:ori look very negative and he 'asked if the Journal would send a'reporter`"to a Planriing Commission meeting so that they can get famiTiar with it. Mrs.' Green-Geter�said that there seertis to be an esclating`problem with the journaIism"wfiicfi has been gnite questionable. Claude Law said that lie would like to get a motion from the body that they'" send a communication to the Journal to get ttiem to have a reporter to attend Hoard meetings so they can be able fo make ,sure that" triey know what the Hoarct's furrctton is and what is being'implemented by the body. Margaret Araujo said that she suggests tkrat t$e Bozrd and the Couuncil meet to find out exactZy what it is thaf ttre Board is suppose to do for them and if they are suppose ta do this arrd they are not doing it because like �:n the instance when they do all these th3ngs wlrt�n the Board has made suggestfons and has said no or has given reasons, then they need to know if tHey are gotng , to be the rubber stamp for Council and if so, then, she will resign because it has gotten to the point where there is too much qoing on; and this body is not being taken seriously. She thinks that the body;:needs to meet with Council and Eind out they are coming from. !� Mr. Mas s�aid that is why in this case, they have to sep�rate substance from fact because of the rules of law. For example tHe I Board cannot now make a motion because staff has not agendized any kind ',of aotions and that is what he was trying to communicate. ' � . � � HCDA Minutes �' ��. July 12, 1989 Page #6 Further stated that he was not in a confrontational manner when � 3':�:�.� � .. he star£ed using the technicalities. For example, he used att analogy to explain tfie methoc� to communicate witi� the Couricil regardi:ng a actiom. Mr. Mas said t'hat the Board could crontact staff and inform� ti�em of arry item ttrey�via�rt fncluded oa the Agenda fos discussirori-or action, and staff would include-ttie item and the issues woizld be discussed and recommenc3ati:ons made aiid everything would kie legal. Claude Law asked if inembers would iastruct staff at that time, af the_ the items that they wish to have irrcluded on the next Board' meeting. Cyntfiia Green-Geter asked if there carr be a discussion� on the role of a HCDA Board member and gossibly traving a workshop between the BoarcY and the City Council. Margaret Araujo included that this is the Hoarc�'s secon� request and ttiat th�y want tYiis included in next month`s Agenda: Cynthia Greeri-Oeter irrterjecte& that when a request is made and you don't get it, the � responsibil.ity faYls ori you to follow-up:� Mr. Law sasd tfiat they have made a formal request and as chairperson, he is prepared to do the follow-ug. Trina Reeves requested� t11at a press irtember �be present�at the next meeting. Mrs. Green-Geter uaid that if a member of�the press unable to attend the meeting, st may behoove the Board to 3�ave a" press release. 'To have a statement made orr montH3y basis as to business darried out each meeting beca�xse �f the fact that she has never seen any press or media present at•arry vf�the meetings. Mrs. Green=Geter- said that a request carr be madE to=invite the media to tHe meeting but-what she is saying is that fn conjuction to that, the Board oreate a press release of the meeting, Mr. Mas said that staff cannot�force tlie press to certain- information but the Board'rrtight want to discuss th= mechanics on how they are gosrig to prepare press reieases.� Margaret Araujo stated that some of the Board members do cammunicate wxth Council members and she knows for a fact that Council members know of the Board's` objections to Project fmpact, Act/So and to things that are going on in the City. Mrs. Araujo.said tHat it would belTOOVe� the Council to c,ome and see-where the problem"Iies, because �the Board cannot"just Iay the blame on they know there is a communication problem somewhere� and sYre has expressed her feelings to some of the Council members a.ri3 Y'm not afraid to say I it and as a�community person, as someone-whn lives there. She plans to come to next Council meeting anct voice her concerns because stie will not sit on a commission that is going to promote everything that is qoing to go against the community or have racial undertones. She said she is not placing the- blame on staff,`she is just saying that Council needs to get together with the Board s that they can find out where they stand because something is wrong. , i i Mrs. Green-Geter said that £t's a lack of communication and tne fact that that issue was not brought before Council, where does the level of responsibility fall? Does it fall on staff? Or on � we as a citizen, a Hoard member if"is a combination of both. Patricia Carr said that she attended Cnuncil meeting before they had the responsibilities that they have now, in fact the questions were asking, the information that ttiey g�ting �re�'tFte �irecfi�r, these reponse have never been in the past, ti�e Councii I is basically used to making decisions without, advice because it never had a full staff on t� commission. So you have to start communicating now, let's not dwell on what has happened � I - . � �. HCDA Minutes � `�--` • July 12, 1989 Page #7 in the past, let's take it from here. We have a brand new start. we have people on the Board that know what's going on in the community. We've made a few mistakes. You have to realize that at the last meeting, I did not like what Art Waller did, he told the Board, that they had to make a decission right then, that there was approximately $108,000 to deal with and then he told , the City Council something entirely different then what he told the Board. The Board requested a special meeting and,never got one, and the meeting was requested to give the Board ample time to make a decission and she felt that that was totaly mis- communication when the man told the Board one thing and the Council something different. So you have to realize that it starts there. Whatever goes off the table written verbally is going to travel out of the Council Chambers and into the Annex and into the Council the next meeting. Margaret Araujo said that they were to have a informal meeting with Project Impact that was handled formally and she was very offended. She asked why didn't they call Clarence Williams so that he could call her and tell her that everybody else had been there and she would not have gone because to her, that meeting was a waste of time and she still questions what he is doing with the Program. She is going to keeping questioning it because she loo',ced at the papers that he had and there: was duplicate there but if the Board wants to excepe it and not fight and continue to ii let their kids be treated like scondhand or just be given bits and pieces of whatever because somebody wants to come in and take money, then fine. But she wanted to let the Board know that she was very offended and very hurt at what happened at that meeting. Cynthia Green-Geter said that all she,:` knows that prior to that meeting, the minutes even reflect that she had been over there because she had real questions about that project, this time last year, and she was not satisfied until she had a opportunity, she did not just go over there one time, she went over there at least four times to review that project before that meeting was called, so as far as she is concerned,�.tt.wasti:`.E.necessary for her to attend that meeting, but she complied with the body to be there because she thought that because she :' had reviewed and seen it that does"not mean it was a rubber stamp for everyone and that everyone should see, for themselves. Mrs. Green-Geter said that she does'not think that Margaret Araujo should be offended because of the fact that other people were informed prior to the fact that the meetinq was being called and she thinks that actually as the Chairperson of the Board, there should have been a level of graditute because of the fact that the people have the information coming into the meeting when they got there, the point is that they have a problem in the community and its not going to be solved by one little intity, to her, she looks at project impact like a pebble on the beach and its only going to touch a few grains of sand, $40,000 is no money for what �� is going on in the community. As far as she is concerned, the City could use several programs of that kind because ��e is appauld of whats going on in this community. She does'not see why�= the Board has to jump on one particular program and she is not there to defend�t�i:s particular program, but a far as she is concerned they need a multitude of different programs because the problem is not going to be solved by one little church, on one corner, with one preacher, she does'not care who likes him and who does not like him, and what he's"c�ing, her concern is how many children are they effectively touching and if the direction of three children can be changed then thats progress and when you say that the Board is not concern about their kids, she thinks that should be retracted, based on the fact that they do care. She said that there methods may be different but she feels that they all have the same goal in mind. � ,;:;. ... . . I , . . . � � ,�, ,� ; HCDA Minutes July 12, 1989 Page #$ Vicente Mas said that he found out about that meeting too late to do anythinq about it, but in the future any special meeting, particularly: that does not take place at the regularly scheduled time and place has to be posted as a public meeting, has to be opened to the public. That is what he is trying to review with the Board, all the mechanics the Board is to function by because he thinks that the Board is loosing track of that and putting themselves in a position jeopardy and that some of their actions and efforts are going to be wasted and challenged by somebody because they are not following procedures. Regardless of the good intentions and what they are trying to accomplish. Cynthia Green-Geter requested that the issues dealing with Act/So and Project Impact be included on the next agenda and Claude Law requested that Community Legal Aid be included. Clarence Williams suggested that in the future if the Board has -any issue that are pertinent to the Board, call him before the agenda is made and he can include them on the agenda and informed the Board that the agenda is posted the Fri'day before each _ meeting, so that if a Board member could inform him by that Wednesday prior to the meeting, staff will be able to include the requested item. Vicente Mas added that that item will be dealt with as a request from a Board member. I. BOARD ORALS: None. Claude Law and Cynthia Green-Geter had to leave and because there would not be a quorum, the meeting was adjourned. J. ADJOURNMENT Margaret Araujo moved, Cynthia Green-Geter seconded to adjourn the meeting. Approval was unanimous. CLAUDE LAW, DATE VICENTE L. MAS, DIRECTOR OF CHAIRPERSON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT , I I � I ' � I �